PBS Show Host Ferre Among The Marti Ten

The Miami Herald’s Oscar Corral breaks a major story this morning about 10 reporters being paid anti-Castro propaganda money by the U.S. government. Specifically, the money came from the U.S. Office of Cuban Broadcasting, which runs Radio Marti and TV Marti, propaganda stations aired in Central and South America. Corral…

He’s Not Tom’s Buddy

Our most recently hired New Times staff writer, Tom Francis, recently got a crash course in the weirdness of committing journalism in South Florida. Francis was working on a story in Sunrise regarding politicians’ ties to the city-contracted garbage hauler, All Service Refuse. He wanted to talk to city commissioner…

Be Careful Out There

Mattes I don’t go outside South Florida often, but this definitely warrants an out-of-state trip. You’ve got to see the savage beating this investigative TV reporter in San Diego took on video. John Mattes seriously almost had his face ripped off. And his trusty partner got it all on Fox…

Beat Philly

Sun-Sentinel/Michael Laughlin I’m glad I wasn’t alone. The Marlins game was on my TV last night, but the sound was down low and I was helping my son with a school project. You knew rookie Anibal Sanchez was pitching a great game by the way announcers Tommy Hutton and Rich…

Swimming With the Fishes

Dolphins fans have never swallowed humility easily. By all rights, Fins fans should be some of the loudest Yankees-level gasbags in the country. Since 1970, when the American Football League merged with the National Football League to create the modern NFL, no team has won more games, and in all…

Bad Lieutenant

On the evening of February 16, 2004, gunshots rang out from a home in the 1800 block of Scott Street in Hollywood. Before long, the street erupted in police lights, including those from the squad car of Sgt. Frank Hogan. This was his call. He directed the other cars into…

Judy, Judy, Judy

Judith Regan Regan Books HarperCollins Dear Judith, I hope you don’t mind the public nature of this correspondence. I’ve never written one of these “open letter” things before, mainly because they’re usually hackneyed and pretentious. But in this case, I think it’s necessary. So let’s get right to the point…

Hard to Swallow

Imagine a tropical nightlife destination where the vibe is as chill as the air conditioning — the lights are low, bamboo lines the walls, and a thatched tiki bar serves a Polynesian elixir, kava, that soothes the nerves. “There’ve been no fights here ever,” manager Ken told me of Nakava,…

Letters for September 7-13, 2006

The Whole Truth This goes beyond state lines: I recently read the article that Julia Reischel wrote on cord blood collection (“In Cord Blood,” August 31). I find it interesting how she seems to name just the one private cord blood bank in Florida but doesn’t name any of the…

The Bitch Vs. The Dirt

My sister newspaper’s own Jean Carey, author of The Bitch column, and new mystery blog thedirtmiami.com are in a bit of a spat over coke arrestee (and Herald advice diva Tara Solomon’s fiance) Nick D’Annunzio. I’m not taking sides here (hell, I’m partial to the Miami New Times, so whatever…

The Queen Batch

Guillen Janice Guillen in happier days. I’m 99 percent sure it’s the Myspace page of the 18-year-old girl who was arrested along with her boyfriend and two other guys for beating the homeless man in Little Havana to death. Some of the other pictures look more like her mug shot…

Wednesday Run-Up

Alright, do it once, shame on you, do it twice, double-shame on you. I let Sun-Sentinel reporter Ihosvani “Gia” “Geo” Rodriguez misspelling of Hollywood activist Howard Sher’s name (he spelled it “Sheer”) in an August 27 article go without mention the first time he did it. Everybody makes an occasional…

Meet The New Boss …

Alright, Davis beats Smith in a close race (which I thought would be even closer). That’s what Smith gets for selling his soul to Big Sugar (B.S.) and using dirty political ploys to try to fool voters into thinking Davis was anti-Semitic and racist. The victory sets up what I…

Hot AIR

The PBS show about the Sun-Sentinel’s award-winning FEMA investigation wasn’t exactly great TV, but it wasn’t bad either. Doesn’t matter much, since nobody saw it (c’mon, 11 a.m. on Labor Day Weekend Sunday?). But there were a few revelations in the documentary: — John Maines started the investigation simply by…

Tuesday Morning Post II

Sun-Sentinel Help Team columnist Steve Svekis warned us this weekend about … killer candles. That’s right. After expounding on the rampant dangers of pool drains and contact lenses, after telling us before the little storm Ernesto to get up on our roofs and remove the wind turbines, the Help Team…

Vote the Bastards In

It’s Election Day. Here’s a quick rundown of the races the Pulp is sort of interested in. I don’t know if these are endorsements or predictions or a bit of both: — Jim Davis over Rod Smith (stick it to Big Sugar). — Jeremy Ring over Graber in Florida Senate…

Epstein’s Angels

Nadia, Robson, and Sarah Kellen Okay, time for a little real Friday Pulp. You’ve prbably all read about Boca billionaire Jeffrey Epstein’s penchant for young prostitutes. Everybody has by now. But, unless you live in New York or visit an NYCentric blog, you probably don’t know the whole sordid story…

Let’s Hope It’s Better Than ‘Tabloid Wars’

A few of you might be wondering why I didn’t say anything about this week’s episode of “The Hill,” the Sundance reality TV show following Rep. Robert Wexler and his staff. Well, it’s because it was crap. Nothing more to say. If the next episode is worth 12 cents, I…

Black-Owned Media Want Share of Campaign Money

Beth Reinhard and Marc Caputo keep chugging on the Davis-Smith race. Mary Barley, whose bid to become agriculture commissioner in 2002 was slammed by Big Sugar, is the new Tom Joad of Florida. She’s going after Smith, who is getting a million-dollar-plus assist from the industry, which is bankrolling a…

The Befuddlement Was Palpable

Okay, somebody calling themselves “Sentinel Chicken” has asked that I look into Mike Clary’s front-page Sun-Sentinel story (in today’s Palm Beach County edition) on the closing of a shelter in Belle Glade. Seems Palm Beach County and Red Cross officials are up in arms about it, saying it’s a crock,…

Was The Pulp Out of Line?

I didn’t even think twice about it. But then someone told me they were pretty much stunned that I had used the word “wetback” in a joke on the Pulp yesterday. “Do you even know how many Hispanic journalists read your blog?” this person said. “I cringed for you.” This…

Earl Maucker: “Readership Trend” Tracker

I was a little late coming to the party on the Sun-Sentinel re-design. I didn’t realize when it was done last year that it would relegate reporters and their stories to third-rate status behind giant graphics and stupid little blurbs. I didn’t know that it would turn national news stories…